SWR 1000 reactor to be known as KERENA has efficient new design
– By Linton Levy –
KERENA has been chosen as the new name for the 1250 MWe Generation III+ Boiling Water Reactor provisionally known as SWR 1000. AREVA currently has a range of three Generation III+ reactors which offer enhanced safety features and even greater safety levels: the EPR which is under construction, the medium-sized ATMEA and KERENA reactors which are still at the design stage.
EPR is a trade mark of AREVA group. Areva executives have informed suppliers that a decision to build a third EPR in France could come by the end of the year.
So-called Generation III and Generation III+ reactors feature standardised designs offering numerous advantages over most of the world's currently operating – or Generation II – reactors. These include enhanced safety, simplified operation, lower fuel requirements and the production of smaller volumes of waste. They typically feature inherent, or 'passive', safety features which depend only on physical phenomena such as convection, gravity or resistance to high temperatures, not on functioning of engineered components. For the utility and vendor, standardised design provides the scope for faster licensing, reduced capital costs and shorter construction times.
The Kerena design was been developed from that of the Gundremmingen nuclear power plant by Areva with extensive German input and using operating experience from Generation II BWRs to simplify systems engineering. The 1250-1290 MWe reactor has a 60 year operating life and uses high-burnup fuels, meaning that it can go for up to two years between refuelling outages. The simplified, standardised design incorporates passive safety systems alongside certain active ones and could be built in less than 48 months, according to Areva's reactor design and construction arm, Areva NP.